The present invention relates generally to gas turbine engines, and more particularly, to a fuel system of a gas turbine engine.
Gas turbine engines are often used to power aircraft, in which case most of the power is in the form of thrust. Some of the power generated by a gas turbine engine is in other forms, though, such as hydraulic pressure. This pressure can be created by pumps that are powered by the engine in various ways (e.g. mechanically by a take-off shaft). The pumps can pressurize various fluids to various pressures, including fuel for use in the combustion process as well as for use in actuation systems (an application that is commonly known as “fueldraulics”). Unfortunately, these pumping systems divert energy from the gas turbine engine that could instead be used to propel the aircraft, which decreases efficiency.
There is also the issue of failure of the hydraulic system. Because many of the hydraulic systems are crucial to the operation of the gas turbine engine, complete failure of one or more of them should be avoided. Therefore, it can be beneficial to have redundancy built into the hydraulic architecture, but this can add extra weight to the engine, further decreasing efficiency.